This is a CU Colorado Springs student blog for the following courses: Intermediate Microeconomics and Austrian Economics.

April 30, 2010

Equality Trumps Liberty

First off I would like to say that this is not a post about labor. This is a post about how equality is dominating over liberty these days. I believe that today in America I have the right to live in a city that is safe for my kids to play in. I want to not have to worry about the increasing gang and drug problems. With the rampant increase of violence due drug trafficking and gang violence in the states south of us comes many innocent people getting in the crossfire. If there were stricter border controls and laws the violence wouldn't be so widespread and there may be a chance to have a safe home again.

Recently the Governor of Arizona passed a new law that lets the police check the papers of suspected illegal immigrants and arrest the ones that cannot prove their citizenship. The majority of the violence is mainly the result of how many Mexicans crossed the border illegally. The governor of Arizona is tired of the violence that comes with 500,000 illegal immigrants. I think that as the local government you should be worried about keeping your communities safe. By imposing this new law it gives the local authorities the right to do their job and keep people safe.

Now many democrats across the country are speaking out against Arizona. Many congressmen (elected officials) are telling professional baseball players to not go to the all-star game held in Arizona. Even protesters in Chicago are giving the Diamondbacks problems as they play at Wrigley Field. Many celebrities and activist are also on charge threatening massive protest in Arizona.

Last time I checked, the definition of illegal is still the same. I'm having a hard time looking at all of the hardship that results from the massive amounts of illegal immigration. The people of Arizona have the RIGHT to protect themselves against harm. Equality now seems to be more important than safety and Liberty.

And we all know that there is no clear definition of equality. This is the myth that the elected officials are striving for, even though it gets in the way of Liberty.

I hope that America remains the Land of Liberty and not Land of Equality.

1 comment:

I'm not quite sure what you mean here. I'm not sure the laws could be much more strict at the national level than they are at this time. It is against the law to enter this country without proper paperwork issued by the national government. It is against the law for businesses to hire people who are in this country illegally. Are there laws that could be passed that would be more strict than this? I suspect not.

Now, all levels of government could devote greater efforts and larger quantities of resources to enforcing the laws as they exist. Perhaps this is what you mean by more strict border controls? The national government could finish the fence project it started, and it could attempt to do this more quickly. Perhaps this is what you meant?

Many city and state governments have decided they would not enforce the national laws that are relevant to the illegal immigration problem.

The Arizona law seems to be about, at least in part, taking some action against the efforts at all levels of government to actually choose not to enforce statutes. You note the reaction to such a stance which has followed.

So, the question I think is really important is what are the consequences when the national government passes laws to deal with a problem but then governments at all levels choose not to enforce those laws? Does the general attitude toward the law and toward government degrade or depreciate? Does the become a growing attitude toward increasing instances and greater degrees of corruption? What are the implications of a significantly sized "black economy" for which people "hide" themselves for fear of their past criminal actions to enter the country being discovered? Doesn't a government that chooses not to enforce laws imply a government that is growing less and less the protective state? And, finally, is it possible that the implications of governments refusing to enforce lawful statutes will be diminished prosperity in the future?